Keychain Flood Light? I have a TK-703 (Li-Ion?)

I grabbed this baby off dealextreme. It's made by Tank007. It's a good little flashlight, but doesn't have as much Flood as it should. So, ideas:

1. Get a single cell Li-Ion battery for it (it supports it) to increase the power to it, and also not cause it to explode in my pants.

2. Get a new flashlight that is more of a flood.

3. Get a new flashlight AND a Li-Ion battery!

So to recap: 1. Single Cell Li-Ions are... safe? And if they're protected, they're ridiculously safe? And I have tried AA flashlights on my keychain, but they are too bulky, so I can only use AAA-size flashlights. And if I am going with Li-Ions, who is reliable?

And a bonus Li-Ion question, I have the AA flashlight I tried on my keychain. It can take a Li-Ion battery too, but I don't use it much. How likely is the battery to lose its charge and become useless and unrechargable sitting there for unknown periods of time? Is that worth using it in?

i'm into 1xAAA lights only so have tried many of them. i've had a few 703 and like you, i also found they had too much throw and not enough flood.

i then discovered the 701 which has a much nicer beam. they are my current standard low-cost users.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18630

another thing you can do for free: put something in from of the lens to diffuse the beam. even a bit of Scotch Magic tape does it. it doesn't even need to cover the whole lens. try just the center area.

i used AAA Li-Ions (with a nano charger) with them and they do indeed seem to make them appear 2-3 time brighter, but if memory serves me correctly, they don't make protected AAA batts, so there is always a danger in using them. i eventually sold my rechargeable kit so now just stick to less-bright NiMH.

Well I guess NiMH would be brighter than the disposable AAA's I throw in there?

I would like to get Li-Ions, but they worry me. Well, time to buy that 701.

if NiMH are brighter, i can't really tell.

the biggest problem with using 3.6V Li-Ions is charging. and finding a good safe charger at a reasonable price is hard. if you go this way, READ everything you can on the dangers and only change them in the middle of a concrete floor away from anything flammable.

ie: threads like this

Forget the Li-on for the AAA light.
In lights that regulate the Li-on battery you will not notice much improvement in brightness.
In lights that do not there is a noticeable increase in brightness but runs too hot. Also the battery is running at 4C twice the safe current for a 10440.

For a floodier beam
Get a XP-G light. The Preon 1 is $37.
Put a piece of satin scotch tape over the front of the lens of your current light. (Satin scotch tape will leave glue residue on the lens when you pull it off.)

LEDninja said:

Forget the Li-on for the AAA light.
In lights that regulate the Li-on battery you will not notice much improvement in brightness.
In lights that do not there is a noticeable increase in brightness but runs too hot. Also the battery is running at 4C twice the safe current for a 10440.

For a floodier beam
Get a XP-G light. The Preon 1 is $37.
Put a piece of satin scotch tape over the front of the lens of your current light. (Satin scotch tape will leave glue residue on the lens when you pull it off.)

Click to expand...

The Preon 1 doesn't have the features I like. It's a multi-mode Flashlight (yuck) and it uses a cap-twist operation (double yuck). As for the scotch tape, what is satin scotch tape? And glue residue should be something I can remove if necessary, shouldn't it?

I ordered the 701 because I am a fan of the Tank007 line, I will see if it does improve the beam.

belomeclone said:

...As for the scotch tape, what is satin scotch tape? And glue residue should be something I can remove if necessary, shouldn't it?

I ordered the 701 because I am a fan of the Tank007 line, I will see if it does improve the beam.

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by 'satin" i believe LEDninji talking about "Magic" or invisible tape. gum can be removed with alcohol.

side by side, i much prefer the smaller 701 model. congrats.

another mod i do to my Tanks is to put a tiny piece of stair-tape (aka: skateboard traction tape) in the button. it allows me to better feel the button in the dark (verses the lens).

belomeclone said:

I ordered the 701 because I am a fan of the Tank007 line, I will see if it does improve the beam.

Click to expand...

FYI the E06 uses the same emitter as the 701. It can be used with 1xaa or 2xaa with the extension tube and it has an inegrated clip.

It can also lego with the 703 so you can swap the (slightly shorter) E06 head onto the 703 body for a floodier beam and put the 703's head on the E06 and use it as a brighter penlight with more throw.

I'm guessing the 701 can lego with both as well (I don't own it) but it doesn't have the extension or clip.

coyote said:

by 'satin" i believe LEDninji talking about "Magic" or invisible tape. gum can be removed with alcohol.

side by side, i much prefer the smaller 701 model. congrats.

another mod i do to my Tanks is to put a tiny piece of stair-tape (aka: skateboard traction tape) in the button. it allows me to better feel the button in the dark (verses the lens).

Click to expand...

The 701 is smaller than the 703? I thought/figured they'd be extremely similar/identical.

belomeclone said:

The 701 is smaller than the 703? I thought/figured they'd be extremely similar/identical.

Click to expand...

the 701 is almost a 1/4" shorter due to its more floody (and thus shorter) reflector. same diameter though.

when small counts, even a few millimeters makes a diff.

you might enjoy this thread too.


.

coyote said:

the 701 is almost a 1/4" shorter due to its more floody (and thus shorter) reflector. same diameter though.

when small counts, even a few millimeters makes a diff.

you might enjoy this thread too.


.

Click to expand...

*smacks forehead* why didn't I think of that? I wasn't thinking properly.

Hey, what battery do you use in there? I headed out and looked around, and I found a couple of 1.5volt AAA batteries. One was alkaline and one was NiooH. These were both Duracells. Then, Energizer had a Lithium 1.5v battery offering. Both Duracells were under 5 dollars for four, and the Energizer Lithium was close to 10 dollars. I got the Alkaline to be safe, but those other ones should work fine... right? And why couldn't I find 1.5v AAA's that were rechargable?

belomeclone said:

... what battery do you use in there? I headed out and looked around, and I found a couple of 1.5volt AAA batteries. One was alkaline and one was NiooH. These were both Duracells. Then, Energizer had a Lithium 1.5v battery offering. Both Duracells were under 5 dollars for four, and the Energizer Lithium was close to 10 dollars. I got the Alkaline to be safe, but those other ones should work fine... right? And why couldn't I find 1.5v AAA's that were rechargable?

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those prices sound very high. where do you live???

in Oregon i buy standard alkalines at the "dollar store", four for a buck. i haven't found them any worse than the higher priced brands. i also buy AAA from Costco under the Kirkland label for about the same price. i use these mostly in my cheaper lights because of the possibility of leakage from any alkaline.

i use rechargeables (sanyo eneloops) in all lights that i use a lot. guilt free lumens! reviews here at CPF always seem to rate eneloops as the #1 best buy in rechareables.
here's the factory site: http://www.eneloop.info/
they're available (along with high quality rechargers) from a number of suppliers who post here at CPF.
if thats too much hassle, you can find 4 standard-brand NiMH batteries with a cheapie recharger for under $20 at any of the big-box stores, like Walmart.

i use L91 eveready lithiums for 'lights that are stored for long periods, like survival kits. they almost never leak and store well, and usually give more run time. (i pay around $2 per battery and order mine at Amazon). be aware that eveready makes lesser quality lithium batteries that sell for almost as much, so do your research here at CPF to find EXACTLY the right version.

any of these would work fine in a 701.

what is the "NiooH" you referred too?

Nickel Oxy Hydroxide, according to Duracell.

belomeclone said:

Nickel Oxy Hydroxide, according to Duracell.

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haven't dealt with those yet. a quick CPF search gave me this thread rating them against other types.

from another thread i'll quote CPF'er Mr. Happy:

"They only perform better than regular alkalines in digital cameras. In other applications like lights they have no added value. "

and from another Lynx_Arc said:

"...the consensus around the forum seems to be:

lithium primaries - energizer of course with their monopoly

alkalines - whatever name brand or generic that works at a good price

nimh - sanyo 2700 and sanyo eneloop/duraloops. forget the panasonic oxyride batteries the price/performance isn't there..."

coyote said:

haven't dealt with those yet. a quick CPF search gave me this thread rating them against other types.

from another thread i'll quote CPF'er Mr. Happy:

"They only perform better than regular alkalines in digital cameras. In other applications like lights they have no added value. "

and from another Lynx_Arc said:

"...the consensus around the forum seems to be:

lithium primaries - energizer of course with their monopoly

alkalines - whatever name brand or generic that works at a good price

nimh - sanyo 2700 and sanyo eneloop/duraloops. forget the panasonic oxyride batteries the price/performance isn't there..."

Click to expand...

Is a 1.5V battery going to provide the same power as any other? Is my Alkaline any worse than the NimH? Other than the fact it's not rechargeable.

...removed...

belomeclone said:

Is a 1.5V battery going to provide the same power as any other? Is my Alkaline any worse than the NimH? Other than the fact it's not rechargeable.

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They are definitely not the same in high power lights. Alkaline works best in low power application, but in a light that can empty a battery in one hour a alkaline battery can maybe supply half the power of a NiMH battery.

Here is the runtime of Ray S20 as an example:


Alkaline can not even get full brightness from the light and last only 15-20 minutes, a 2000mAh NiMH can keep full brightness for 30 minutes.

On a low power light alkaline might have better runtime than NiMH.

excellent clarification HKJ!

HKJ said:

They are definitely not the same in high power lights. Alkaline works best in low power application, but a light that can empty a battery in one hour a alkaline battery can maybe supply half the power of a NiMH battery.

Here is the runtime of Ray S20 as an example:

Alkaline can not even get full brightness from the light and last only 15-20 minutes, a 2000mAh NiMH can keep full brightness for 30 minutes.

On a low power light alkaline might have better runtime than NiMH.

Click to expand...

Well, I am using the TK-703, or TK-701. Now I know it can take Li-Ion batteries, but it says on the dealextreme description that it takes 1.2-1.5V AAA batteries. Obviously since they can take Li-Ion, it can take a stronger battery. Is a AAA NiMH battery going to have more power in it?

I'd like the most power I can get out of these, as close to Li-Ion as I can get without having those, uh, deathtraps in my pocket.

Edit: I looked up the Eneloop site, their batteries seem to be 1.2 Volts. Am I being mislead here on Volt power?

No, their nominal voltage is 1.2v, but they have a much higher capacity and hold their voltage much better under load. In high drain applications such as the light you're mentioning Ni-Mh cells can provide over 5 times as much power as alkalines.